Night Of The Guitar Live Review

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(More customer reviews)"This CD includes rare LIVE performances not available on any
other CD! Recorded on the "Night Of The Guitar Tour" in 1988,
it features Leslie West,Steve Hunter,Steve Howe,Randy California,
Robby Krieger,Alvin Lee,Pete Haycock,Andy Powell & Ted Turner
(from Wishbone Ash).Highly Recommended!"

1."Dr. Brown I Presume" - Peter Haycock
2."The Idler" - Steve Hunter / Peter Haycock
3."Lucienne" - Steve Hunter / Peter Haycock
4."Groove Thing" - Randy California / Steve Hunter
5."Hey Joe" - Randy California
6."Love Me Two Times" - Robbie Krieger / Steve Hunter
7."The King Will Come" - Ted Turner / Andy Powell
8."Theme from an Imaginary Western" - Leslie West
9."Sketches in the Sun" - Steve Howe
10."Wurm" - Steve Howe / Peter Haycock
11."No Limit" - Alvin Lee
12."Ain't Nothin' Shakin" - Alvin Lee
13."All Along the Watchtower" - All guitarists

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Eros Ramazzotti: Stilelibero (2001) Review

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(More customer reviews)First, let me say that I don't have many favorite male singers. I have been listening to Eros for about a year now, having bought most of his CD's. You don't need to know Italian to appreciate his music. His vocal range is astonishing to me, and there are several songs that send chills through me. His vocal talent and music and lyrics, which he wrote are fantastic. I can't say enough about his voice and his music. I STRONGLY recommend Stile Libero CD and EROS (his greatest hits) CD as well. This video is fantastic for those who appreciate his music but can't make it to Europe for his concerts. He is a very personable guy.

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STILELIBERO - DVD Movie

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Sixty Six Steps Review

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(More customer reviews)i haven't read the other 4 reviews which are up on amazon right now, but here's my stab at one. i've been waiting all summer for this cd to come out. i had high expectations for this album and it basically lives up to them. it's hard to find fault with it, especially if you are a mike gordon aficionado first and foremost, and a more recent kottke fan due, in part, to his association with gordon (like myself). if you like clone, their 1st release together, then you'll like sixty six steps. it's pretty much the same thing as last time, with the addition of a drummer. mike gordon's songwriting skills are perhaps more prominent this time, and he continues to flourish in a post phish world with some of his best songs to date. he seems to have had the midas touch with all of his solo projects. if you are primarily a kottke fan this album may not seem as cool to you as it does to phishheads, but hopefully you'll get over that and give in the to the sheer joy these musicians obviously express when playing together. like they said on e-town recently, kottke and gordon were friends first and partners later. is any new ground covered? is it groundbreaking? will trendy hipsters even notice or care about this laid back islandy piece of work? probably not. but will it become an "island" disc for those who find themselves "off the grid" as it were, most definitely a resounding "yes". especially if that island happens to be anywhere tropical like the bahamas or costa rica and you're on a two-week vacation.

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Sixty Six Steps--the second collaboration between guitarist Leo Kottke and erstwhile Phish bassist Mike Gordon--is both an homage to and an experiment loosely involving island rhythms. "There are these syncopations within Leo's guitar playing that twist around in a way that remind me of calypso," explains Gordon. "So this album took form as an experiment in my mind to see whether Leo's unique style of playing could be mixed with this kind of music I discovered and really loved when I was younger. And it worked far beyond my expectations." "Mike was the first to notice that aspect in my playing, and I think I'd forgotten it was in there," says Kottke. "No one else had done that. He's very intuitive that way."The pair had already successfully tested the waters as collaborators with the album Clone, released in 2002. When they crossed paths in 2004 at a music festival, Gordon told Kottke that he really wanted to do an island experiment as his first project following the Phish era. Rehearsed in Costa Rica and recorded in the Bahamas, Sixty Six Steps is seasoned with the buoyant rhythms and freewheeling spirit of the tropics. It is not literally a calypso album but one that uses the calypso feel as a touchstone for a set of performances by two of the most imaginative and mold-breaking musicians on the planet.
Sixty Six Steps is a mixture of originals and interpretations performed in ways that are vaguely familiar yet largely without precedent. For instance, you'll find a cover of Aerosmith's "Sweet Emotion" sung in a deadpan monotone and performed on baglama (a Turkish banjo/mandolin-type instrument), guitar and bass. Then there's a pastoral Pete Seeger composition ("Living in the Country") given a spritz of equatorial light and air. A twisted Mike Gordon original ("Stolen Quiet") professes mock gratitude for a partner's exodus from their shared abode: "The sheer amount of surface space increased around here/With your diet soda gone, there's more room for my beer." An equally offbeat Leo Kottke original ("Balloon") features such lines as "When the raccoon steals the cheese behind Pandora's other box/Or the one you love is shopping for a helmet made of rocks/Balloon, balloon, balloon..."
Incidentally, the title Sixty Six Steps is taken from a sign at the base of a staircase leading to what is reputedly the highest point on the island. The steps curve around and go to the top of the hill, which is a great spot from which to view the sunset. In its own way, Sixty Six Steps winds and ascends to a point from which the listener can savor some truly unique musical vistas.

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Otis Redding: Respect - Otis Live (2009) Review

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(More customer reviews)As a huge fan of Otis Redding's music, I couldn't wait to get this DVD and see him LIVE in concert. This DVD does not disappoint! Otis is electrifying, and his performance of "I've Been Loving You Too Long" alone is worth the price.

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This collection includes some of Otis Redding's most electrifying performances from the European leg of the legendary 1967 Stax/Volt Tour, where Otis is joined onstage by Booker T. & The MG's with The Mar-Keys, plus special guests Sam & Dave. Also included is Redding's captivating performance (again with Booker T. & The MG's and The Mar-Keys) at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, where he transcended genre and drew in a whole new audience. Respect: Otis Live includes all his Chart toppers, including "I've Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now)", "Respect", "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction"and "Try A Little Tenderness". Directed by acclaimed documentary filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker, this concert film shows Otis Redding in his prime, just months before his tragic death.

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Acoustic Tour Live (IMPORT) Review

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(More customer reviews)A true, five-star stunner. Essentially just Maria on guitar and piano, with her friend Susan helping out on backing vocals, from her spring '06 tour. I saw them when they played Philly - this CD, like that show, is wondrous, mesmerizing and a delight. If you close your eyes, you'll swear you're at the foot of the stage. Highlights include the old dependables of "Shelter" and "Breathe" (I'll never tire of hearing either), plus Richard Thompson's "Has He Got a Friend for Me," the three songs written by her late brother Bryan (Love's "Orange Skies," Lone Justice's "Don't Toss Us Away" and the gospel "Blessed Salvation") and her hypnotic rendition of Bruce Springsteen's "Backstreets." Other highlights worth mentioning: the three tracks from her sublime 2005 Peddlin' Dreams album (the title track, "Sullen Soul" and Neil Young's "Barstool Blues," presented here as a "hidden" track).

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The Grand Tour Review

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(More customer reviews)According to Wikipedia, "[Jerry] Herman is the only composer/lyricist in history to have three musicals run more than 1500 performances on Broadway: HELLO, DOLLY! (2,844), MAME (1,508), and LA CAGE AUX FOLLES (1,761)." He's also written a few shows that haven't done so well: MILK AND HONEY (543), DEAR WORLD (132), MACK & MABEL (66). And then there's this curious musical from 1979 which lasted for just 61 performances.
Originally released by Columbia, the original Broadway cast recording eventually sank into oblivion and became something of a cult recording. Although it was remastered in 2002 by Fynsworth Alley, it appears to have fallen off the radar, which is a shame since it contains some of Jerry Herman's best writing, earning Mr. Herman his third Tony nomination for best original score. Even though the score adheres closely to the "Jerry Herman Broadway Musical" formula, it contains three lovely ballads and a number of equally fine up-tempo songs, more-than-serviceable orchestral and choral arrangements (Philip J. Lang & Donald Pippin), and heartfelt performances by the show's principals Joel Grey, Ron Holgate (both Tony nominees), and Florence Lacey, winner of the 1978 Theatre World Award (Irene Malloy in the HELLO, DOLLY! revival).
Based upon the play "Jacobowsky and the Colonel" by S. N. Behrman, which is in turn based upon the original play of the same name by Franz Werfel, THE GRAND TOUR takes place in France in 1940, and is about "a little Jewish man running away from the Nazis." Even though he has been driven out of Poland, Berlin, Vienna and, now, Paris, surviving is what Jacobowsky does best as he explains in "I'll Be Here Tomorrow," the song that has become Jerry Herman's personal credo. He commandeers a car, but the only candidate for driver is Colonel Tadeusz Boleslav Stjerbinsky, a self-centered, anti-Semitic nobleman from Jacobowsky's village in Poland. First stop is to pick up the Colonel's lady love and the subject of the lovely ballad "Marrianne." Their escape has many detours and, naturally, Jacobowsky and Marriane fall in love, and the Colonel's dislike for Jacobowsky develops into respect ("I Think, I Think") and friendship ("You I Like"). Book writers Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble have added a few locales and modes of transportation not found in the original play, weakening the narrative but allowing for the inclusion of some fine ensemble numbers like "We're Almost There" (with its reference to one of Catherine the Great's fabled lovers), "One Extraordinary Thing," and "Wedding Conversation/Mazel Tov." Ms. Lacey lends her rich soprano to "I Belong Here," and she and Mr. Holgate share a charming duet ("More and More/Less and Less"). Mr. Grey gets to sing some of Jerry Herman's finest lyrics when he envisions what his life with Marianne might be ("Mrs. S.L. Jacobowsky"). My only complaint is that Mr. Grey's accent is much the same as the one he employed in CABARET.
Even though THE GRAND TOUR missed the mark on Broadway (blame the book writers for that), the music deserves to survive. Thanks to Fynsworth Alley, it will - if you go to their web site and order it.
Recommended. (Currently available as an ArkivCD from Arkiv Music)

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Vinyl LP!!!...Not a cd...Autographed(hand-signed) on the front cover by the composter JERRY HERMAN........Columbia label JS-35761

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Reality/A Reality Tour Review

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(More customer reviews)Most Bowie fans, in some form, have seen or heard parts of this show. Be it catching a You Tube clip or buying the DVD for it's fantastic music, this concert is a snapshot of the incredible Reality Tour that all true David Bowie fans must hear. Like most of Bowie's concerts, the track list plays like a greatest hits of his entire career (minus much sampled from the Station to Station era) and he is able to belt out the classics with the necessary bravado and emotion we have come to expect from his smoother, aged voice. He is able to juggle his nearly half a century of music easily and while, obviously, tracks from his most recent album Reality play heavily, songs like Sunday (perhaps one of the most criminally overlooked songs he has released in the past decade)Changes or All The Young Dudes all receive the proper luxurious orchestration and attention to detail. If you do not own the DVD and are a David Bowie fan this album is an ABSOLUTE must, I can say without reserve that this will rank with Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars as a perfect picture of the majesty and wonder that is David Bowie.
There is, strangely, an emotional aspect to this concert that I hadn't picked up on before. It's no surprise to anyone that Life on Mars? is, in it's own way, an emotional song, a lament of sorts (though not specifically from Bowie's perspective) but the rendition of the track in this show nearly moved me to tears. Fans of groups like Queen will tell you that during a concert it's an absolute given that there are times when the entire audience of a Live Show will belt out "Love of My Life" or "Bohemian Rhapsody" along with the band, singing at times alone, while the group continues the instrumental adding a layer of intimacy that truly defines the Queen experience. David Bowie fans on the other hand, can tell you that while the audience will sing, dance and clap along, more times then not, it isn't picked up on albums or is specifically turned down during post processing. This isn't the case for Life on Mars? on this album. Not only do we have Bowie's majestic voice, but we also hear a flood of voices, merged into a single sound, singing the words up until the first chorus, giving a beautiful seemingly PLANNED echo. Listen to Life on Mars? on Hunky Dory and then come back and listen to it here. There is no better way to experience the sound that is David Bowie. This is made all the more powerful by the fact that this may be the last "release" David Bowie gives us as whether or not he ever plans to release another album is unknown and in all honesty unlikely.
Ziggy Played Guitar indeed.

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2008 two disc (CD + NTSC/Region 0 DVD) set that pairs together a hit album from this artist with a companion DVD that was previously only available separately.Now, you are able to enjoy the sights and sounds of music in one convenient package.Sony/BMG.

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